The sport featured in The Phantom Menace is called podracing. It is a dangerous high-speed competition in which pilots control small racing craft powered by enormous engines connected to their cockpits.
The film introduces podracing on Tatooine, where the young Anakin Skywalker enters the Boonta Eve Classic. Although Anakin is enslaved and has little freedom, his exceptional reflexes and mechanical talent allow him to compete against experienced racers, including the intimidating Sebulba.
Podracers are not conventional spaceships. Their engines usually travel ahead of the pilot and are linked by energy lines, creating a distinctive design that makes the craft fast but difficult to control. The race course is filled with cliffs, tunnels, rock formations, and other hazards, so crashes are common and often fatal.
“Speeder racing” is a tempting wrong answer because speeders are common vehicles in Star Wars. However, speeders and podracers are different technologies, and the specific sport shown in the film is officially named podracing. The sequence became one of The Phantom Menace’s most recognizable set pieces.